Eyeglasses having improved temple pivot structure



Feb 1952 G. R. HOFFMASTER 2,587,472

EYEGLASSES HAVING IMPROVED TEMPLE"PI VOT STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 8, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

A Z Zarzzg/ Patented Feb. 26, 1952 nYEGmssEs: mimovnn" PIVOT? STRUCTURE"George R; Hoffma'st'er, Esterly; Bail, assign'on WillsomPmducts; Inc.,Reading, Pa., a; corpus ratiomofifliennsylvania Rpplibat'ibmfiecember s,1939;. Serial No. reuse:

3- (Jlaims. (01.. 88-53):

The? present: inventibm relates to ophthalmic mountings; and more:-pesticide-rite to?- a; temple pivot; connection: for eyeglasses;especially those of the sunglass type.

A common type; of? pivot connection: for securing; temples to!thef'rame-of eyeglassesis one wherein: the ends: of? the: temples areprovided withT-shaped heads for pivotally securing" them to the: sideears. of? the lens framing, which temple ends are flattened to a shapeso as to form stop surfaceslfor-limitingitheeopening swing of thetemples. In the manufacture of. such temple pivotal connections; it.isnecessary that the temple ends which carry' the pivot's be initiallyof greatendiameten' than: that of the temples so that sufiicient metalis provided for the flattening process to form the stop surfaces. Thusithas been necessary to initially provide a. wire of larger diameter thanthat of the finisheditemplesand thenflatten the pivot: bearingendsthereof and" finally reduce: the diameter of the remainder'of the"wire to that desired by a wire drawing process. In many instances, anadditional wire drawing process was provided to reduce portions of thetemple wire sufficiently to provide them with plastic covers to bearagainst the sides of the head; An outstanding objection to thisconstruction of temple pivotal connection is the number of manufacturingsteps required as well as the time required therefor, which materiallyadd to the cost of manufacture.

An object of the present invention is to provide a temple pivotconnection for eyeglasses which is devoid of the above nameddisadvantages and which may be made without the necessity of a wiredrawing process,

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a templepivot connection which is made entirely of wire of desired diameterwhich need not be either drawn or flattened during assembly.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom a study of the following specification taken with the accompanyingdrawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pair of sunglasses embodying thefeatures of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view partly in plan and partly in cross-section ofone of the temple pivotal connections taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 ofFig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig.2.

Referringv more::particularlw to: the: figures; nusmeral l denotes aneyeglass framing whose:split rims are formed by joining togetherears;-2:' integrally formed. on: and extending: outwardly therefrom. Earportion 2a: is integral: wi'th: the upperj half and ear portion:v 2b-rintegral: with. the lower h'alf'off thesomewhatcircular lenszframesi'Pivot" pins; 3 0i cylindrical configuration: extends ing verticallythrouglr' comicspending; apentures in: the ear portions; or endv pieces;2a: and; 2b are.

provided for? pivota'lly connecting? the: temple wires: ortemples-a 4tom the? framing; The: pivot"- Di g maybe-of the same diameter the;temples 4" andmade merely by cutting: end; pieces from the templeforming: wirez. Verticallyex tending screws: 5 are: provided for securing the-ear portions; 2a; and 2b together and; for holding the-pivotpins3 inzplace'.

An: important feature 7 of the present invention resides in thespecifiotype of pivot connection provided at" the end of" the temples:4-. Slightly rearwardly of the ends of' the temples: there are notchesof arcuate shape forming seats into which may be integrally secured by asoldering or welding process the short pivot pins 3, disposed at rightangles to the temples 4.

It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the ear portions 2a and 2b of the frameare reduced in vertical thickness along their rearward surface to allowpivotal movement of the temples 4. The upper portion 2a is stepped up at6 and the lower part 212 is stepped down at 1. The two faces 6 and 1together form a stop wall or surface for limiting the pivotal movementor outward swing of the temples to a position substantially at rightangles to the lens framing. That is, the dis-. tance between the notchesand ends of the temple wire is selected so that when the temples movefrom the position indicated by dash-anddot lines to the full lineposition of Fig. 2, the ends thereof will abut against a side wallformed by surfaces 6 and 1 and thereby limit the outward swing thereof.Thus the short extensions of the temples 4 beyond pivot 3 cooperate withthe side wall surfaces 6 and I to provide limit stops.

It will be noted that the temple wires 4 need not be reduced incross-section for any reason whatsoever, also, that the pivot pin 3 maybe made merely by cutting oif an end piece of the temple wire and thenwelding or soldering it to the temple wire when seated in the arcuatenotch described hereinbefore. While such notch is not absolutelynecessary, it has the advantage of'positively positioning the pivot pin3 with respect to short of the forward end the ends of the temple wiresto facilitate welding at the proper distance rearward of the ends of thetemples to provide the proper stop or swing-limit action.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a relatively simple, buthighly eflicient temple pivot connection for eyeglasses, particularly ofthe sunglass type, which temple pivot connection involves a minimum ofvery simple parts and manufacturing operations, and at the same timeprovides ahighly reliable pivot which is devoid of looseness andadditionally will give an assured limit to the outward swing of thetemples, also which connections are relatively inexpensive. to,

manufacture on a large scale basis.-

While I have illustrated and described a certain specific embodiment ofmy invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustrationonly, and that vaiious changes and modifications may be made within thecontemplation of my inprovided near the forward ends of said temples forseating said pivotal short wires so as to definitely position said shortwires at a given disvention and within the scope ofthe following claims.

. I claim:

1. In a mounting for eyeglasses having split lensri'ms, each havingintegral ear portions ex;- tending outwardly from the ends thereof,means .for securing said ear portions together, said ear portions havingconfronting cut-out portions to .provide an intermediate Space boundedby a verticallyllextending stop surface, a pair of temple .wires,,[eachhaving a. short wire integrally formed thereof and extending at rightangles to the temple in substantially tangential relationship, saidshort wires extending vertically through registering holes in said repective ear portions to provide pivots for the temples,

saidshort wires being so spaced from said forward ends so that theoutward swing of said temples. is. limited to substantially 96" by theabutment of the extreme forward end sur- -facesjof saidtemples with saidstop surfaces, and

wherein laterally extending arcuate notches are tance from the forwardends of the temples when integrally secured to the temples thereat, thelength of each temple from the notch to the forward end thereof beingsubstantially straight.

, 2. An ophthalmic mounting comprising a. frame-rim provided with anoutwardly projecting ear, said ear having a temple-slot bounded in partby a stop-wall of said ear, said ear having a pivot-hole spaced fromsaid stop-wall, a temple having a wire-like substantially straightendportion of .cylindricalshape terminating in a forward end, and awire-like cylindrical pivot-pin secured directly to said end-portion atright angles in substantially tangential relationship at a point thereofspaced from said forward end, said pivot-pin being in said pivot-hole,said pivotpin being spaced from said forward end and said ivot-hole.being spaced from said stop-wall to limit theioutward, swing of saidtemple by causing theilat end surface of said forward end to. abut saidstop-wall. F

3. An ophthalmic mounting as defined in claim 2 but furthercharacterized by said pivotrpin and said end-portion of said templebeingthev same si w re. W x

GEORG E I REFERENCES CITED Theiollowin'g references are of record in theidle of this patent: i

UNITED STATES PATENTS :Number' Name Date 116,222 Risley June 20, 1871217,429 Spencer July 8, 1879 369,544 Minster Sept. 6, 1887 1,196,092Fenno Aug. 29, 1916 2,210,507 Spill Aug. 6, 1940

